Mind Doctor Casts Kang Ha-neul, Heo Jun-ho and Two Others for MBC's 2026 Slot

Kang Ha-neul will play a doctor for the first time in his career, taking the lead in MBC's new Friday-Saturday drama Mind Doctor. The network announced the cast on the 9th: Kang, Kim Hye-jun, Heo Jun-ho and Kim Sun-young.

The casting fits a pattern of terrestrial broadcasters leaning on medical dramas, a genre with a reliable audience, while trying to give it a different angle. Mind Doctor does that by moving the story out of the operating room. It is written by Jo Hyun-jin and directed by Wi Deuk-gyu, and it is classed as a human medical drama.

The story follows a gifted surgeon who feels no emotion. After his older brother dies, he ends up working in a psychiatry department, and the drama traces how he becomes a real doctor through that work. Kang plays Lee Si-chan, a man whose surgical skill is matched by a lack of warmth. Meeting psychiatric patients, he begins to look at other people's minds and, eventually, his own.

The supporting cast

Kim Hye-jun plays Go Jung-hyun, a second-year psychiatry resident who becomes Lee's senior. She takes real pride in her field, so she clashes with him constantly over his dismissive view of psychiatry.

Heo Jun-ho is Kim Man-chul, the hospital director and Lee's mentor in surgery. When Lee leaves for the branch hospital's psychiatry department, Kim uses every scheme available to bring him back. Kim Sun-young plays Park Mi-ran, head of the branch psychiatry department, who stands up to Kim Man-chul to protect her junior staff. She is described as at times a seasoned expert and at times a dependable support for those around her.

MBC described the drama as "a different kind of medical drama that goes beyond treating illness to understand the human mind," and asked viewers to look forward to the acting ensemble of the four leads. Mind Doctor is scheduled to air in the first half of next year.